The biggest trend in franchises is the miniseries spinoff. Star Wars has Andor, restricted to two 12-episode parts, Marvel has Agatha All Along, Dune has Dune: Prophecy and the DC Universe has both The Penguin and the upcoming Lanterns, a series that is already garnering comparisons to True Detective.
Even though it’s now over 60 years old, Doctor Who is on the cutting edge of this trend. Showrunner Russell T. Davies announced a new miniseries spinoff entitled The War Between the Land and the Sea at San Diego Comic-Con in 2024, a brand-new adventure focusing on classic villain the Sea Devils and starring Russell Tovey and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Now, we’re finally learning more about the series — and it seems to bring back the best part of classic Doctor Who.
In an interview with Variety, Russell Tovey teased how The War Between the Land and the Sea is different from other projects. “I think it’s got everything for the Doctor Who world, but it also feels completely fresh,” he said. “With Dylan Holmes Williams, Who’s director, it feels like an indie film. I wanted it to feel gritty and indie and dynamic in that way.”
“Indie” isn’t exactly a term you’d see applied to one of the BBC’s biggest shows, one that recently struck a deal with Disney resulting in a new global reach and production value bump. However, it’s a longstanding part of Doctor Who’s history. Before the 2005 reboot, Doctor Who was an ambitious sci-fi show tied together on a shoestring budget. It wasn’t uncommon for every alien planet to look like a quarry in the British countryside or for creatures to look suspiciously like they were covered in tin foil.
It’s not the first time Doctor Who has tried a spinoff. The tone of The War Between the Land and the Sea sounds very similar to Torchwood, the more grounded series focused on Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) as he worked to defend the Earth from aliens. However, Torchwood was never able to find its footing and reach the longevity of Doctor Who. This series is learning from that: it’s not trying to be a new sci-fi series, it’s just a one-off story.
An indie, gritty spinoff of Doctor Who won’t only bring back the ramshackle charm of the original show, but it will also keep up with the increasingly dark and moody spinoffs across other franchises. The Penguin took The Batman and turned it into a dark and moody crime series in the vein of The Sopranos. Agatha All Along took WandaVision and turned it into a fantastical journey that occasionally tipped into the surreal. Now, Doctor Who can try something similar and prove it can use its history to its advantage while also keeping up with the Joneses.
